by Editor
This quarterfinal clash is intriguing for many reasons but one is both clubs have some very similar characteristics.
Both Lisburn and Leinster play in the Senior League in their respective Unions without carrying the ‘big name’ tag of a North Down or Waringstown or a North County or Clontarf.
Both clubs are having a good season. Leinster have already reached one final - the DGM 45 Over competition but lost to Railway Union. At the weekend they comfortably beat Pembroke in their only Leinster Senior League outing to date.
Lisburn are close to the top of the Ulster Bank Premier League despite suffering a 10 wicket loss to North Down on Sunday. They had a better day last Saturday when they easily overturned CSNI by 129 runs to reach the semi-finals of the TCH Down Democrat Challenge Cup.
The similarities don’t end there. Neither team have star players who are currently playing for Ireland for example. The captains in fact make remarkably similar comments about their respective successful season to date.
First, 21 year old Greg Thompson of Lisburn. “We have some key players but really the success so far this season is because we have had people standing up and making important contributions, performing under pressure, both with the bat and in the field.”
Anton Scholtz the Aussie skipper of Leinster says the reason for Leinster’s success this year is that ‘we have been playing together as a team quite well. The strength of our team this year has been that someone has stood up in every game. We’ve had a few injuries this year which has tested us but we havn’t been found wanting.”
Thompson is of course an Irish international. After playing some games for Lancashire 2nds and also Durham University a few years back, he is back now studying in Belfast and focusing on his Lisburn captaincy role. He has given up on the leg-spin and is now an off-spinning all rounder.
“I am possibly disappointed not to be involved in the Ireland set-up these days but I’m happy enough to bide my time and focus on Lisburn for now. I have still ambitions to play for Ireland in the future.”
Besides Thompson other key players for Lisburn will be opening bat Gerhardt ‘Gerrie’ Strydom (‘a prolific run scorer’ as per Thompson), the Ervine brothers Ryan and Craig and David Simpson, Lisburn’s main strike bowler, who is on the fringes of the Ireland under 23 squad.
For Leinster, Carlos Braithwaite and Scholtz who are currently top of the Leinster bowling averages (see Stu Daultrey's averages on www.cover-point.com) are key players, as is Mark Jones, potentially a match winning batsman for the Rathmines outfit.
George Dockrell, recently named in Ireland’s Under 19 squad for the European Championships in Jersey is another important player for Leinster.
“He’s a great kid” says Scholtz. “He’s got a good attitude. He learns every time he goes out on the field.”
Both captains admit to knowing very little about their respective opponents.“I understand that they are a very handy outfit but for us they are very much an unknown quantity” says Thompson.
“I don’t really know much about them”, says Leinster’s Scholtz. “I believe it’s a small ground…. It’ll be a big ask for us to go up there and win.”
With a coveted Irish Cup semi-final berth at stake it is sure to be a hard-fought encounter.
Whoever wins on Saturday will be starting to believe this can be the year that their club can create a piece of history and win a first-ever Irish Cup title.
Venue: Lisburn
Time, Date: 12.30pm, Saturday 4th July
Weather Forecast: Heavy Showers
Match Forecast: Leinster’s all-round strength to secure a narrow and hard-fought victory.
A Match Report on the game will be posted on the website on Sunday 5th
Liam Rooney
Copyright: Cover Point
